“Today Connecticut Democrats made the right choice,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement. “ As she has proved throughout her career, Hillary Clinton gets results, and I am proud to have endorsed her candidacy. I will continue to work hard to make sure she is elected president of the United States this November, and I urge all Connecticut Democrats to do the same. Together we can and will defeat Donald Trump and his extremist agenda.”

Vincent Mauro, New Haven’s Democratic Town Committee chairman, said both sides ran “fantastic campaigns” that got people activated and primed for the national election.

He mentioned Ward 25 in the Westville section of New Haven, in particular, where there was a high turnout split between the rivals.

“Both sides got out their core constituencies,” said Mauro, who is also legal counsel to state Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven.

Mauro said the multiple visits by Clinton and Sanders to the area were a testament to the power and importance of the Democratic Party in New Haven.

Quinnipiac University political science professor Scott McLean said Tuesday’s results were “closer than I thought.”

He said the last few days “made a real difference for Sanders,” particulary his visit to New Haven Sunday where he attracted 14,000 people to the Green.

“I think in the end ... most of the towns outside of Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven ... went for Sanders” by a wide margin, McLean said. “The cities gave Clinton the edge, just to pull her through.”

Unofficial results showed Clinton winning by roughly a 53-47 percent margin in New Haven, a 70-30 percent margin in Hartford and a 65-34 percent margin in Bridgeport.

“I don’t really have a great explanation for why she does better in cities,” he said, although “I think it has something to do with the strength of the Democratic Party in denser urban settings.”

State Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, who backed Sanders, said in Connecticut, as elsewhere, “Hillary has been a household name for a very long time. Bernie has to overcome that.”

“I think the question that people have to answer is ‘What happens now?’” Winfield said. “I think a lot of people are going to come back in the fold. But those that aren’t ... how are you going to deal with that?”

Winfield said if Clinton is to be the candidate, she needs to deal with what she represents to people who voted for Sanders.

Asked why he thought Sanders hasn’t done as well in cities and communities of color, Winfield said he thought his organization is “focused on the demographics they thought would win for them.”

“I’ve always been a proponent of focusing on your areas of strength,” but also paying attention to where you’re not as strong, he said.

In Connecticut, as in many other places, “There’s an affinity in communities of color, particularly the black community, for the Clintons,” Winfield said. “I think most communities, not just communities of color, go with who they know ... That is very difficult to overcome.”

He said Sanders did better in New Haven than in Connecticut’s other largest cities, because there is a very liberal undercurrent in New Haven.

Tallies from New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport and Stamford continued to lag more than two hours after the polls closed.

At stake across five states voting Tuesday, were 384 delegates with 55 in Connecticut. There are 78 super delegates, with 15 for Connecticut.

It appears that Clinton will take home 26 delegates to Sanders’ 24 in Connecticut.

Real Clear Politics showed a spread of 5.6 percentage points in Clinton’s favor in Connecticut over three polls going back to April 10.

The latest from Public Policy Polling Monday said the Democratic races in Connecticut and Rhode Island appeared to be toss-ups with Clinton having a narrow edge of 48 percent to 46 percent for Sanders in Connecticut and Sanders in the lead in Rhode Island, 49 percent to 45 percent for Clinton.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who had campaigned for Clinton, said her “team deserves a lot of credit for pulling out a win here. Bernie is a good friend and he ran a strong race, and I know he’ll do what it takes to ensure Democrats keep the White House. Donald Trump’s dangerous and hateful agenda cannot be taken lightly, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure she wins in November.”

Kathe Hosen of New Haven was typical of those supporting Sanders.

“He is pushing things in the right direction. The criticisms about the pie in the sky — the impossible — it’s important to push those things so we get closer to our goal. And he is the first to do it,” Hosen said.

“The things he is speaking to are the things that I really really care about,” she said.

Patrick White of New Haven voted for Sanders because he felt the candidate seemed to be more consistent in his positions than Clinton.

“Bernie’s has always been truthful and I appreciate that,” White said after voting in New Haven’s East Shore.

White, however, made it clear that he was good with either Democrat candidate getting the party’s nomination as long as he or she goes on to win the White House in November.

“Whoever wins I’ll be happy. I don’t want Trump,” White said. He said they both “seem to appreciate one another. They are both great candidates.”

White’s remarks were typical of Democrats who plan to come together after the convention to defeat the likely Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

At the watch party for Sanders in Meriden, the crowd was small — about 50 people — but enthusiastic as it looked at the close tally and Sanders then edging ahead of Clinton.

Anibal and Marisol Colon, of New Britain, left their five children with grandma while attending the festivities. The two have been volunteering for Sanders’ campaign. The two said Sanders is willing to stand up to corporate interests, Wall Street, improve access to college and treatment and care for veterans.

“There are so many kids with talent that can’t go (to college) because they don’t have the funds,” Anibal Colon said.

The two said they were expecting the primary to be close, because both candidates offered good qualities. Yet Colon said that the night’s results wouldn’t mark an end for either campaign.

“It’s not over today. That’s for sure,” Colon said.

Ed Waldner of Middlefield said “people are ready for a change.” He said he stepped out of his comfort zone to volunteer for Sanders.

The McCormack household, a New Haven couple, must be bound together by love, because it isn’t politics.

They both cast their ballots for Clinton Tuesday, but if it wasn’t such a hassle to change parties, Deborah McCormack was drawn to Trump and would have been in his camp.

“He is a businessman. That is what we loved about him,” Deborah McCormack said.

“The country needs to be run like a business,” husband John McCormack, but added that Clinton overall will bring more to the table.

“She does have a lot of good points,” John McCormack said of the former secretary of state.

Diana Brownell, who lives in the East Rock neighborhood, is a big Hillary fan in a neighborhood where both sides in the Democratic race are pretty passionate.

“She can do the job. She has all of Bernie’s aspirations, but she can work to get those ideas through. He is the messenger. She is the CEO,” Brownell said.

Brownell was among those who feel Sanders has taken “a more radical approach and hasn’t really laid out his plan for doing it.” Still she felt both contenders were onboard with the “basics,” she said.

Brendan Lawless, who brought his 2-year-old son, Sebastian, to the East Rock polling place at Wilbur Cross High School, also voted for Clinton as the better nominee.

“I like Bernie Sanders, I just don’t think he is completely realistic about everything,” particularly when it comes to dealing with a Republican Congress, he said. “They are just not going to pass any of his ideas that people are getting excited for.”

Lawless likes Clinton because of her experience, particularly on foreign policy.

One woman, who did not want to give her name, felt the candidates represented a “painful choice” for her, but ultimately she voted for Clinton.

“I voted for the person I thought would be most able to actually accomplish the job. There are other values being expressed that I wholeheartedly agree with. I think both parties are having a problem of significant disagreement with leadership. And while the Republican Party has gotten all the press on that, the Democratic Party is having that too,” she offered.

She would be happier if Clinton assured her she would look to unify the party along “different lines than when the Clintons were elected.”

Connecticut Democratic Party Chairman Nick Balletto also weighed in.

“She (Clinton) is a lifelong champion for the values we as Democrats hold dear. I also want to congratulate Sen. Sanders on a hard-fought campaign here in Connecticut. The bottom line is that either of our Democratic candidates would build on President Obama’s successes and move our country forward, while Donald Trump and the Republicans would take us backwards,” Balletto said.

Connecticut Working Families Party Executive Director Lindsay Farrell, who had worked hard for Sanders, said when he first announced no one thought the primary in Connecticut would have an impact.

“Bernie has given voice to a real and powerful political movement that continues to grow as the primary process continues. He’s given hope to countless Americans that they can vote for someone who stands for an economy and a democracy that work for all of us — not just the wealthy and well-connected,” she said in a statement.

Farrell said a “true political revolution doesn’t stop at the top of the ticket. If we want to see the kind of change that Bernie Sanders talks about, we need to elect strong progressives at every level — state, local, and federal.”

Since the beginning of the year, 93,823 new voters were added to the rolls in Connecticut with 46,492 more Democrats, 21,448 Republicans and 25,883 unaffiliated. The boost in voters was an indication of voters clear interest in this election. The candidates spent more than $1 million in ads in Connecticut.